The Europeans explored the world in the 1400s and 1500s to find new lands and people, and colonize them for many reasons. Without the Europeans colonizing and exploring lands, the world would be much different than it is now. But even though the explorers did many great things for the world, most of the individual colonies they set up did not have a very good life because of the Europeans disrupting their lives and destroying their way of life. A few examples of how they destroyed their lives include Christianity and the way they tried to spread the religion, trading with the natives, or more correctly, taking the resources from the natives. They also brought diseases and enslaved the natives that fought against them.
Some of the European explorers and their exploring party were Christians and believed that they could spread the Gospel to other natives in the New Lands. This would have been a great idea, if they hadn’t used force to make them believe in God. In the Incan Empire, the Spanish Christians were forceful and used unChristian-like ways to convert the natives, like torture and even killings if they refused to convert. In the opposite side of the spectrum, some of the Europeans brought slaves from Africa, who would share their religions with others and caused the spread of other religions than Christianity. Along the same lines, in India, all the gods they have were shared and many people believed them and converted, including some of the Christian explorers.
Another negative example of the European exploration, is the trading of goods. Though, when I say trading, they really didn’t trade much. In the Incan Empire, the Europeans forced the natives to give over all of their gold and silver and precious possessions to them, so they could take them back with them to Europe. This caused major poverty in the area, which was once rich in resources and gold. In Haiti, the Europeans took all the resources from the grounds, and destroyed the lands so the resources couldn’t be found again, which caused the civilization to be poor, and they still are to this day. In China, the Europeans wanted to stop the trade of Opium, a drug the Chinese traded with others and used for themselves, which was really bad for the Chinese who abused the drug. The Chinese wanted to continue selling this, because it was a major source of income for the civilization, and addiction for some. The British seized and destroyed almost 1,400 pounds of the drug, and caused a major income loss, which enraged the Chinese. Soon, the Treaty of Najing was signed by both the British and the Chinese to stop the fighting, but there was still a loss of income and made many in China poor.
The final example of the European exportations, are the diseases brought to the New Lands, and slavery. In the Incan Empire, the Europeans brought small-pox to the natives, and their immune systems were not used to this, which caused an epidemic and killed over a third of the population. In Mexico, there were diseases spread again from the Europeans, which caused most of the population to die. This caused the need for workers to increase, as so many of them died, so the Europeans took the remaining people and forced them into slavery to work for them, or be sold to other places around the globe. The slaves became such a problem solver, that the Euopeans traveled to Africa and decided to sell and ship the people to the Americas as slaves to works the lands. By the 1700s, there was 70,000 slaves traded per year. If the slaves refused to work, they would be killed and another slave would be easily placed in their spot.
In conclusion, the European Explorations were a negative influence on the world. Many countries today would be wealthier and speaking other languages if the Europeans hadn’t colonized.
The world did benefit in some ways, like the spread of Christianity, in some places they did actually trade knowledge and good with the natives, and they also put some countries on their feet and make them a successful civilizations. But I believe that there are more cons, than pros. When the Christians use force to convert people to their religion, the people wouldn’t want to follow if they are so rude. The Europeans took all of the resources from most places and used them for themselves, instead of trading with the natives and teaching each other new technologies and techniques. The spread of diseases in never good, and when almost and entire population is wiped out, slaves are needed, causing even more suffering for the slaves. Overall, the world would be very different if the Europeans hadn’t colonized, but many countries would have more riches and resources, and there would be less slaves and sickness in the populations today
English Portfolio 